Roger Vivier
(1913-1998)
Roger Vivier was born in Paris, France on November 13, 1913. He studied sculpture at l'École des Beaux Arts, in Paris. Vivier opened his shoe store in 1937, but later had to close it due to the impending World War II.
In 1936, he worked for other shoemakers before opening his own house the following year. Vivier designed for many major shoe manufacturers: Pinet and Bally in France, for Miller and Delman in the United States; and for Rayne and Turner in the United Kindom. In 1938, Vivier agreed to work exclusively for Delman in the United States but a year later he was forced to leave to fulfill his military duties.
In 1942, Vivier opened a store in New York called Suzanne & Roger, with milliner Suzanne Remy. In 1945, Vivier was back with Delman where he produced several collections, one of which included his "crystal shoes." He returned to Paris in 1947 and worked freelance for a while until in 1953, Christian Dior appointed him as designer for the shoe department in his salon. During his stay at Dior he designed some of the most influential shoes of the period. He transformed the 18th century mules into evening shoes, court shoes and day boots. In 1957, he created a stacked, leather-heeled, chisel-toed shoe which became very popular. He made circular diamante heels, wedge shoes, and bead-embroidered shoes. In the 1960s he designed African sandals and a shoe with a mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell or silver buckle.
In 1961, Vivier was awarded the Neiman Marcus Award. In 1994, at the age of eighty-six, Vivier signed a new licensing agreement with Rautureau Apple Shoes, which in turn allowed him to open a boutique in Paris the following year, but in October 2, 1998, Vivier died in Toulouse, France.
The company was bought by Diego Della Valle of Tod’s in 2000, with designer Bruno Frisoni appointed as creative director.
